Bloomberg suggested Nadler's request was "ridiculous" and reflected a misplacing of priorities: if he had brought back more "federal moneys," the mayor said, then "maybe we could make our schools better and we wouldn't have some of the things that people are protesting against."

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This morning, Bloomberg dialed back his criticism of Nadler.

"Once again, people want to make a big battle out of it," the mayor said, when asked about it during his weekly radio appearance.

Bloomberg said Nadler "works very hard for his district and for this country and this city." Bloomberg also said, "And in most things, I agree with him," but on "this thing, I think he's wrong."

In an earlier part of his radio appearance, Bloomberg blamed the media for over-dramatizing conflicts between elected officials. He was specifically referring to his public dissatisfaction with Governor Andrew Cuomo's unexplained slowness in dealing with the mayor's plan to establish "outer-borough taxis."

"And the press always talks about these big battles," he said. "I'm sure Andrew is doing the same thing I am. You shake your head: 'When? Where?' You don't agree every time, but you don't have these battles. Come on, you have to work together the next day on the next issue and one issue has nothing to do with the other."